Ruralite Cafe: Published 03/22/01

By Lynn Hotaling Associate Editor

County's past is written in names of post offices

So we looked it up in what may be our most valuable (not counting our dictionaries) reference book: "The History of Jackson County."

And there, nestled snugly between Effie and Fall Cliff on page 585, we found Erastus, which opened in 1892 and closed in 1953. But it didn't give a clue as to location except to say that when Erastus was "discontinued," mail was delivered to Cullowhee. However, before the demise of Erastus, mail from Bessie (1892-1938) was sent there.

Because mail for Pine Creek and Yellow Mountain is still routed through Cullowhee, it was plausible that a post office named Erastus once graced Pine Creek. However, just to be sure we had the right answer, I phoned a friend. I called Melba Dillard in Cashiers, and she assured me that the Erastus Post Office had been on Pine Creek. And this past weekend we found Erastus on a 1905 map, which indicated a community by that name was once located around the intersection of Cullowhee Mountain (S.R. 1157) and Pine Creek (S.R. 1163).

So after all that, I have become somewhat fascinated by the list of post offices and the story it tells of past settlements.

Currently, there are 10 post offices operating in Jackson County -Balsam, Cashiers, Cherokee, Cullowhee, Dillsboro, Glenville, Sylva, Tuckasegee, Webster and Whittier; there were once more than eight times that number.

Of the 84 post offices listed in the history book, it appears that Quallatown was in operation the earliest. Humphrey P. King is listed as postmaster there in 1834. The post office at Quallatown was discontinued in 1902, and its mail was delivered to Whittier.

While Whittier is still around, its name was originally Junaluska. Other post offices that merged with Whittier include Barkers Creek (originally Compton) that merged first with Wilmot in 1920. Compton started out as Big Spring when James Raby was postmaster in 1852. Wilmot ceased operations and its mail was sent to Whittier in 1922.

The post office in existence the earliest that is still around today appears to be Cashiers, which dates from 1839, when Jonathan Zachary was postmaster. Its name was originally Cashiers Valley but was shortened to Cashiers in 1881. Here are a sampling of former post offices that through the years have merged with Cashiers: Coalside, Feldspar, Georgetown, Hidden Mountain, Heady Mountain, Kilgo (originally Kilgore), Ocala and Talpha.

Glenville, which also has led a long life, dates back to 1856, though it was first called Hamburgh. It became Glenville in 1891 when Elisha Hedden was postmaster. Big Ridge and Raper are two post offices that once existed in the Glenville area.

Though Cullowhee is the post office that survived, its service was once discontinued and mail sent to Speedwell for two years. A post office operated at Speedwell as late as 1952, and it opened in 1893 when Hattie E. Rogers was postmaster. The earliest listing for Cullowhee is 1877 when David Brown was postmaster.

Fall Cliff, which dates from 1879 and existed until 1920, is one of several post offices that merged with Speedwell. Others include Oscar and Fernhurst.

While Norton community is usually considered more a part of Glenville than Cullowhee, its post office merged with Cullowhee in 1953. One that merged with Norton prior to that date is Choga, which closed in 1882.

Mail from post offices on Caney Fork was eventually switched to Cullowhee. Mail centers that once stood along Caney Fork include Hoosier, Cowarts, Hooper and Rich Mountain. East LaPorte, which existed from 1840 to 1955, also merged with Cullowhee.

Some post offices existed for only brief periods, and no information is listed in the history book with regard to their locations. So this will be the reader-participation feature. Please advise if you know a geographical location for any of the following former post offices: Bluefield, rescinded in 1901; Caters Hill, 1866-1873; High Top, 1857-1866; Horse Cove, 1855-1866; Keolin, discontinued in 1891; and Reliance, 1889-1891.

Information received will be included in the next installment on Jackson County's former post offices, when we'll take a look at those that once existed in Webster, Tuckasegee, Balsam, Sylva and Dillsboro.

If you have knowledge to share, call 586-261, or e-mail news@thesylvaherald.com.

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